What is the Correct Interior Red?

[68SixBangerRS]

I'm trying to round up as many original red interior pieces as I can for my '69 with a standard red interior.  I bought what was described as a "correct" red standard steering wheel made by OER, and like every repop red interior I've seen it was not the correct shade of red.  As far as I can determine, 1st Gens with red interiors are few and far between, which makes documenting what the correct shade of red actually looks like pretty difficult.  As you might be able to tell from my photos, the repop wheel is more of a maroon than a bright red.  I posted a couple of pics of an unfaded red '67 Impala wheel, which I believe is also the correct red for a '69.  I also posted a portion of the OER wheel's rim compared to the bright red from a set of Delco plug wires, and the end of a Coke 12-pack (which I believe are very close to the correct shade of red...more of a tomato soup color). 

If anyone has purchased red standard repop door panels, I would like to know what brand and if they look correct, and if anyone has an original red interior, I would appreciate some photos taken in bright light with a white paper towel behind to bring out the red.  For anyone considering an OER "correct" red standard steering wheel, I would say "fuhgettuhboutit"!

[ggtsvnv]

I dont know about a 1969 but years ago I had a 68 that was triple red. It was a base 327 and a 3 on the tree, but from what I remember it was a bright red similar the steering wheel on that impala. Not a dark red like what you show in your picture. I do know on mine that the red was pretty much all the same meaning, carpet, door panels, dash, seats and the rest. Not a mix of two or more shades of red. Sorry I don't have a pictures but hopefully someone will.

[68SixBangerRS]

GGT...thanks for the reply.  That red '68 with a 3-on-the-tree would be a great driver now, except its drivetrain has probably been swapped for an LS and a Tremec!

Attached is a photo of my '69's original gauge surround, and it's basically tomato red.   I just noticed the wheel in the top photo says "Belair", not "Impala"...oops.

[firstgenaddict]

No colored interior cars which I can recall matched from piece to piece of plastic painted etc.
The ability to hold color in differing plastics at that time was not at all consistent across differing types.
Super Car Workshop did a 68 COPO NOVA with blue interior in which they colored the interior components to the colors on the reverse of the plastics.
IMHO it looked correct and was a much closer representation to how they actually appeared vs WHAT most people want in their own RESTORED CAR TODAY!
FWIW I personally work at finding original door panels and seat covers no matter the price or effort, in the end it is well worth it.

[x66 714]

It does run into some money to find original pieces. I just did it for my yellow interior. When it come to the color you'll even find the black interior ports are closer but not exact....Joe

[68 Ragtop]

GGT...thanks for the reply.  That red '68 with a 3-on-the-tree would be a great driver now, except its drivetrain has probably been swapped for an LS and a Tremec!

Attached is a photo of my '69's original gauge surround, and it's basically tomato red.   I just noticed the wheel in the top photo says "Belair", not "Impala"...oops.

My 68 with blue interior is so many shades of blue. The original parts have faded to different shades and the reproduction parts are different shades. Something I have to live with or dye.

I also noticed from your 69 dash photo it's a 6 cylinder, as is your user name 68. Do you seek out 6 cylinder cars or do they find you?

[68SixBangerRS]

Rag, Joe, and James...thanks for the replies.  I have sought weird 6-bangers for a lonngg time.  I realized back in the late '80s that they could be picked up very cheaply and were usually a lot less screwed with than the V8 cars (really, how many people hot-rodded 6s back then?).  They also usually still had their original drivetrains, wheels, and didn't have a bunch of incorrect parts to swap out.  And that's still pretty much what I've found, although they're nearly non-existent now (and a lot more expensive).  The car in my avatar was a 6-cylinder RS that had a 3-on-the-tree and not much else.  It was originally turquoise with a white nose stripe and dog-dish hubcaps.  I wanted to restore it, but the body was so rusty that the subframe only had one solid bolt still attaching it to the body.

I'm always on Craigslist looking for original 1st Gen stuff and am always amazed when I see guys take original cars and destroy them to make them into "hot rods".  Now I'm looking for original red interior parts (James...you're right about the original stuff being better than any of the repop garbage).  Ko-Lec-Tor (aka: Bentley) just turned me onto a pair of original red armrests and pads, plus red bucket seat hinge covers for cheap money, and they will go on "Cherry" (thanks Bentley!).  I'll snap some photos of the original pieces next to the crappy repop pieces as soon as I can.  At least the original pieces are actually some form of red as opposed to various shades of muddy maroon.

I was speaking to Bullitt65 on here (aka: Austin) and he agreed that original stuff is way better.   

[BULLITT65]

Many times I will go through the trouble of restoring an original piece, or run it as is with the original patina, than buy new. I am sure many of us have learned a few skills along the way, trying to preserve the original. When I got my white 69, the fuel sending unit was bad. I didn't want to find a replacement, so I learned how to repair the worn out resistor strip in the sending unit along with adjusting the mechanism, and with some trial and error, I got it rebuilt. Nobody will ever see that it has the original AC sending unit in there, but I like the fact it has it, rather than a Chinese POS one.

[169INDY]

I can share some 68 (ORIG) Red interior photos with you. Std Buckets etc,,,Lot of it is in good but use shape.

[firstgenaddict]

There were a pretty nice set of 67-68 std red seats front and rear in Georgia on CL for quite some time for around $500.

FWIW I would POST a wanted AD on Yenko.net

[Petes L48]

My 67 is in resto and we went through hoops trying to source the correct darker red for the upper dash area (convertible so no similar shade rear window trim)     

[169INDY]

One good option for 68 is SEM Color Coat; Portola Red # 15363

[169INDY]

1968 Inside qtr reveal paint as found. (LOS) 12D

[68SixBangerRS]

Jim, James, and Pete...thanks for the input.  The SEM Portola Red looks like a near-perfect match.  I may buy a can and see how close it matches the existing red. 

Attached are photos of original red '69 unfaded (according to the guy I bought them from) armrests on top of the repops.  I took them in bright sunlight on a white towel, and they look pretty close in these photos, but in less light the color differences are more pronounced.  On the GM pieces you can see the red of the lower armrests is pretty close to the color of the pads.  You can also see that the repop is discernibly shorter than the originals.  The lower piece repop is not an exact match of the original, but it's pretty close.  I don't know if there are different manufacturers of repop armrests, so there may be something closer for those guys who can't find originals.  I would also suggest experimenting with paints to find a close match to the red on the lower dash, which appears to be close in its shade of red to the rest of the interior pieces.  It appears that GM painted the armrest pads with actual paint...the vinyl looks like it started out as black on the originals I bought.

I plan to repaint the dash in my car as it is currently bright gloss red.  I read on here that the correct amount of gloss is 30%, so that is what I'll try to replicate.  If anyone needs the correct red, I would suggest they go to the largest NAPA store nearby and order GM Garnet Red in a 12 oz spray can...I was impressed with how close it matches the paint on my car.  The cost for a 12 oz can is approx. $35.

[68SixBangerRS]

Here you can see the difference in length between the original pad (bottom) and the repop (top).  The armrests were also held on with junky "hardware store" screws (don't you just hate that?).  I still had the original screws from the rusty '68 RS I sold 5 years ago.